The Rhythm Inside Me
by yunsi
Summary: Mokuba worships Seto, not Duel Monsters. Instead he and Serenity share a dream to publish DDR charts. When Serenity writes a chart so complex that they must turn to Kaiba, will Kaiba offer his help or insist that Mokuba's duty to Kaiba Co come first? SxS
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you b00kworma for the lovely title. Thank you Fae and Michi for beta-ing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

* * *

The Java Script scrolled down the computer in a green blur. A pair of violet-grey eyes widened in dismay. "Ummm…"

Mokuba Kaiba typed wildly in an attempt to slow down the diabolic HTML codes. Finally he slumped in his chair. Soft, raven-black spikes laid sprawled over the keyboard in the final gesture of defeat. Rubbing sleep-deprived eyes, the young Kaiba mustered his courage and disconnected the laptop. He clambered off the swivel chair, and trusty laptop in tow, threaded his way across his eclectic bedroom (once compared to a minefield by his older brother).

Leaving the sanctuary of his personal chaos, Mokuba walked down the elegant hall and trudging through the plush carpet, made his way to the stern door of Kaiba's bedroom.

"Come in."

From behind the door, the cold and clipped voice sounded strangely alien.

Careful not to drop the machinery, Mokuba pushed open the door. "Hey Big Brother."

Kaiba tore his eyes off the stock reports to greet his little brother. "Hey kiddo." His smile, though wan, was genuine. Mokuba was the one spark of light keeping Seto Kaiba sane in the ugliness of the corporate world.

"I need help, Seto. How do you reverse the JS coding so I can replace it with C4…?"

Kaiba nodded slowly as he listened, sapphire eyes not reflecting his surprise. Mokuba's programming skills had increased exponentially in recent weeks. After a few clarifying questions, Kaiba proceeded to show Mokuba how to obtain the desired results.

"…so remember to convert it first, ok?"

Mokuba nodded thoughtfully. Almost immediately, a broad smile lighted up his face. "This is awesome, Seto! Serenity will be so pleased. We were both so worried that the two's and five's wouldn't mix. At first, Serenity thought I was insane to suggest such a weird syncopation. She said something like 'Even Phillip Glass never attempted something this heavy!'. But I begged and begged. Finally, Serenity admitted that it had a lot of potential, and Serenity…"

Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair and returned his attention to the little rows of numbers before him. However, the word "Serenity" kept jumping out at him. It seemed like every other word out of Mokuba's mouth had to do with Serenity-this or Serenity-that.

_Who the heck is Serenity? The name sounds a little familiar…_

As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, his little brother's monologues weren't always all that interesting. Though he was determined to give Mokuba the attention and love that he had never had as a child, Kaiba inevitably tuned out most of Mokuba's babbling as he worked. However, Kaiba prided himself on usually getting the general gist of things.

"So Mokuba…who's this Serenity?"

Mokuba stared at Kaiba with wounded eyes. "Serenity? Seto…she-she's my best friend. She's been my best friend for the past two years. Don't you remember her?"

_And…ouch._

* * *

A lonely gust of wind scattered the leaves, and the fallen foliage danced across the empty school yard. Mokuba sat on the ground cross-legged, fiddling with his backpack strap. His brother was late.

Mokuba tried to quell the rising sadness. It was his birthday, and Seto had _promised_ to pick him up and have dinner with him. _Surely Seto wouldn't have forgotten?_

A sleek convertible rolled up to the sidewalk. Mokuba smiled in relief. He jogged over to the car and slid in. "Hey Big Brother."

"Hey kiddo. Sorry about that…My secretary apparently thought your school ends at 4:30." His eyes flashed steely blue. Mokuba had never seen his brother so pissed at a regular worker. Kaiba usually considered the people with tech-level jobs too stupid to waste his anger on. His wrath, in all its magnificent intensity, was usually only reserved for the professionals and executives. "I ought to fire her."

"Please don't, Seto. She's really nice. I think she's the best secretary you've ever had!"

Kaiba smirked. "Only because she gives you candy every time you visit."

Mokuba blinked innocently.

"I have some stuff to catch up on. Can we stay at my office for a bit before I take you out to dinner?"

Mokuba nodded happily.

They arrived at Kaiba Corp. and Kaiba swept into the building, Mokuba trotting behind him. At the top floor, they were ambushed (as Kaiba put it) by his secretary.

"I am so sorry, Mokuba," she simpered. "I hope you didn't catch a cold out there, you poor thing! Here, take an extra piece of candy today."

Mokuba smiled, dutifully allowed her to continue to gush over him and was rewarded with yet another piece of candy.

"Disgusting," Kaiba muttered.

"You're just jealous she never gives you candy."

Kaiba snorted. He yanked open the door to his office and as they entered, Mokuba dropped his dopey smile. _Thankfully._

The next two hours were spent in comparative bliss for Kaiba as he hacked through his work load and Mokuba sprawled on the floor, did his homework, muttering darkly whenever he came across a particularly tedious math problem.

As he waited for the download to reach 100%, Kaiba heard the distant grumbling of thunder. He looked out the windows and saw baby-blue skies, a cheerfully shining sun.

_What the – _

"Hey Seto? What time are we having dinner?"

Kaiba looked down at his younger brother, who rubbed his stomach and smiled sheepishly. Kaiba checked the clock and rolled his eyes. "Well, it's only six…"

The grumbling became a dull roar.

Kaiba sighed. "Alright, alright."

Mokuba punched his fist into the air, "Yeah!" He raced back to his backpack and haphazardly shoved homework assignments into it. Kaiba winced; he sincerely hoped that Mokuba treated Kaiba Corporation's papers with more care, seeing as Mokuba had been the Vice President for almost two years now. As soon as the data was completely transferred over, Kaiba saved his files and shut down the laptop.

"Your choice today, kiddo." Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair, but Mokuba's grin immediately made him regret his generosity.

"How about Hip-Hop Joe's for pizza, Seto?"

_Remember that __**you**__ made him wait in the bitter __**cold**__, in an empty school yard for half an hour on his __**birthday**__. _

Kaiba shut his eyes. Reopening them, he found that it hadn't been a nightmare after all, and his brother was still looking up at him expectedly.

"But wouldn't that be considered cruel and unusual punishment?"

Mokuba's eyes widened. "Was that a joke, Seto? Hey, not bad for your first attempt!"

* * *

Kaiba stepped outside, breathing the crisp air with evident relief. He had always known he'd be willing to go to hell for his younger brother. He just never thought he would have to pay for it as well.

Mokuba stretched and yawned contently. "That was so much fun, Seto. We should do it again."

Seto nodded, careful not to move too quickly lest he regurgitate all of the oil he'd just ingested on the sidewalk.

"Just get in the car, Mokuba."

They drove in silence.

* * *

At the front door of the Kaiba mansion, Kaiba and Mokuba were greeted by the maid. She bowed to both of them, and turning to Mokuba said, "Mokuba-san, a young lady is waiting for you in the living room."

"Is it Serenity?" Mokuba sprinted inside the house before the maid could answer.

A little curious – now that the mysterious Serenity had finally revealed herself – Kaiba also headed for the living room…in a much more stately and dignified manner.

"Serenity!!!"

The young girl's eyes fluttered open. Upon seeing her best friend, a beautiful smile graced her lips. Despite her pinched face, the dark bags under her eyes, and all other signs of utter weariness, her joy made her look positively radiant. She rose from the couch (where she had fallen asleep) but immediately plopped down again as Mokuba tackled her. They landed in sprawled tangle of limbs on the plush $20,000 _Bambier_ couch from Italy.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Even though they had gone to a fast food restaurant for dinner (he shuddered to consider it a "restaurant"), Kaiba had done his best to keep his hyper-active brother away from sugar. _Apparently, the sugar in the soda was enough for Mokuba…_

Serenity giggled. "Happy Birthday Mokuba! Did you have a good dinner?"

Mokuba beamed. "It was so amazing! I even got Seto to eat pizza with me!"

Kaiba's eyes softened. Mokuba's obvious happiness made all the food poisoning in the world worth it. The girl looked at him and his guard automatically went up. But she merely smiled and waved shyly. "Hello Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba nodded tersely in reply.

Mokuba poked Serenity, "Where's my present, Seren?"

"Mokuba!" Kaiba snapped, appalled at his little brother's lack of manners.

"Oh sorry Seto. Never mind Serenity, I –"

"Don't be silly, Mokuba. Of course I got you a gift." Serenity withdrew a small, carefully wrapped package from her purse. The bouquet of curly ribbons on top bounced furiously as Mokuba shook the little box, trying to guess what lay inside.

"Can I open it, Serenity?" Mokuba asked eagerly. His fingers were poised to rip off the wrapping paper when he suddenly remembered. "Seto?"

Kaiba gave a barely perceptible nod.

Mokuba shredded the paper with glee and pried open the box. A USB drive was nestled in a bed of tissue paper. He gently picked up the USB drive and examined it. "What's in here, Serenity?"

"I know you're a computer genius Mokuba, but I don't think even you can figure out what's stored inside the USB just by looking at it."

Kaiba smirked. She had surprised him; he had been expecting some useless little stuffed animal. And she had a sense of humor. _At least she's not an complete air-head._

Mokuba frowned. His own laptop was on the third floor. _I hate living in a large mansion. It always takes so long to get __anywhere__. _His eyes fell on the suitcase Kaiba held in his hands. It contained his brother's personal laptop, which Kaiba carried with him everywhere.

Kaiba saw the wheels turning in Mokuba's head. "Don't even think about it kiddo. Besides, you have your own laptop upstairs."

"But it takes forever to go up all these stairs and then come back down again. I want to see what's in my gift _now! _Please Seto?"

Kaiba highly doubted it took Mokuba "forever" to go anywhere. He had seen his little brother reach supersonic speed racing around the house, creating systematic havoc for the staff. He stared his brother down.

Soft violet eyes met hard sapphire. The puppy dog look versus the stone. A great battle of wills. The stone never had a chance.

Kaiba resignedly walked to the couch and sat down on Mokuba's left. Serenity remained on Mokuba's right. She covered her smile with her hand. _The Great Seto Kaiba is human after all. Yugi was right._

Kaiba turned on his laptop, and his fingers flew over the keyboard with alarming alacrity as he checked in with all the security measures he had placed on the laptop. When he was done, he placed the laptop on the coffee table, directly in front of Mokuba. Without hesitation, Mokuba inserted the USB and brought it up on the screen. All eyes were on the laptop.

At the top of the screen, 4 golden arrows (up, down, left, right) glowed on an inky black background. A haunting melody began, and swirling colors began to take form in the darkness. Without warning, a mass of arrows, too many and too fast for Kaiba's eyes to catch, shot to the top of the screen accompanied by the acceleration in the tempo of the music…and then whatever-this-was really begun.

Mokuba was stunned. He could barely tear his eyes off the screen. Kaiba did not know what exactly this was but marveled on some instinctual level at the music, the speed and complexity of the arrows, and the dizzying background behind it all. He had never seen anything like this before. Serenity allowed herself a small smile.

Kaiba looked at her. _Where had she found this?_ She was watching the screen intently, with a calculating look that Mokuba, no longer in shock, wore on his face as well. Kaiba had the most peculiar feeling that both of them could actually see the individual arrows, instead of the overwhelming cluster that he saw.

Towards the middle, Mokuba began beating a rhythm on his chest with his hands. It did not take Kaiba long to realize that when the arrows reached the top 4 golden arrows, it created a pattern – the groove that Mokuba was tapping out. Concentrating fiercely, Kaiba began to discern the individual arrows as they met the golden ones and matched that to the music he heard and to Mokuba's pounding. It was excruciatingly difficult, but Kaiba had always had a knack for picking up things quickly.

When the song finally ended, they continued to stare at the screen, even long after the golden arrows melted into the blackness. Mokuba was the first to break the silence. "Did you write that, Serenity?"

Serenity quirked her eyebrows and grinned. "You like it?"

It took all of Kaiba's training to keep his emotionless mask in place and not show surprise. _She __**wrote**__ that?_

"That was…" Mokuba shook his head. "I can't describe it. It's amazing, Serenity, everything we've ever dreamed of." He searched Serenity's face, hoping that his eyes could convey the happiness words could not. "I can't wait to transfer it to a game console."

Serenity bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Mokuba…but I don't think you'll be able to do that."

"W-Why?"

"The coding's not compatible." She sighed. "A lot of the syncopation I used was what you had suggested, like the two's and five's, and Kami or C++ just didn't support that. When the inspiration hit me, I wanted to create an exact replica of the music I was hearing in my head and not shortchange it just because some program couldn't understand a hemiola rhythm." Serenity looked sadly at Mokuba. "Are you mad at me? I should have told you this before and not get your hopes up."

Mokuba hugged Serenity. "You're crazy, Serenity. This is the best gift I've ever received." He looked at Kaiba and added hastily, "It's almost as awesome as Seto's gift was." Serenity giggled at Mokuba's attempt at diplomacy. Over Mokuba's head, she winked at Kaiba, not seeming to mind Mokuba was comparing her hours of labor to the pizza dinner Kaiba had given.

Kaiba felt a pang of guilt. All of his frustration that he'd have to cancel two important executive meetings, cram stacks of paperwork in on Saturday, and postpone the progress of Kaiba Corp's new disk technology, seemed trivial compared to how much work Serenity had put in for Mokuba. _No wonder she looks like she's about to faint from exhaustion. I wonder how long it took her._

"Don't worry, Serenity. I'll find a way to convert this. We'll do it together," Mokuba said solemnly.

Serenity sighed wistfully. "I wish we could. Having to use BBC is such a pain. Even quarter note triplets have to be rerouted." She shuddered at the memory. "Do you remember the time we tried to do a DDR chart for Pachel Bell Canon?"

Mokuba grimaced. "Please, Serenity. Don't remind me."

Serenity rose wearily from the couch. "I've got to go now, Mokuba. I'm glad you liked my gift. Bye Mr. Ka–"

"Wait!" Mokuba leapt up. "But you haven't read me a bedtime story yet."

Serenity looked confused.

"Everyone who gets me a birthday gift has to read me a story," explained the violet-eyed child. "Usually, it's only Seto, but this year, since it's your first time, you can go first."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. Mokuba could be a very good liar.

Serenity blinked. She felt a little woozy. The sleep-deprivation was kicking in, and she wasn't sure if she was thinking clearly. _But didn't I get him a gift last year? How come I don't remember this? What about the year before?_

"Mokuba, I'm really tired." She closed her eyes to steady herself. "Can we rain-check this? I'm sure your brother would prefer if I don't intrude on your family tradition."

Serenity looked at Kaiba beseechingly.

"Are you driving home?"

"Y-Yes." Her speech was slightly slurred.

Kaiba did not think that would be a particularly wise idea. However, he also did not want to torment the poor girl any more than absolutely necessary. Knowing Mokuba, the mischievous boy would probably force her to read The Lord of the Rings to him.

Kaiba shrugged. "You are welcome to stay here. But I suggest you call your parents so they will not worry about you coming home late."

Mokuba turned his adorable puppy-dog eyes on Serenity. _"Please?"_

Kaiba smirked. It was rather amusing to watch someone else being played by Mokuba. Usually his sole victim was Kaiba. And the maids sometimes.

Left really with no choice, Serenity nodded unsteadily. She fumbled in her purse for her phone and dialed her home number. She hit the answering machine. She mustered the effort to leave a coherent message and then dialed her mother's cell phone just to be safe.

"Hello? Hi Mom, where are you?"

"…"

"You won't be coming home tonight then?"

Mokuba flashed Kaiba a victorious grin.

"Oh, I just called to let you know I'm at a friend's house and not to worry."

"…"

"Ok, Byebye."

Serenity wearily snapped shut her cell phone. "It looks like I can stay awhile." She pushed through her tiredness and smiled fondly at Mokuba. "You're so smart Mokuba, why do you need someone to read to you?"

Mokuba shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Of course I can read all the books by myself. I just like having someone read to me." He smiled winningly at Serenity.

"Even after two years, I still get suckered by you," Serenity murmured. But she was not angry.

Mokuba could no longer keep the smirk off his face. It was the mirror image of Kaiba's expression. The resemblance was disconcerting.

Mokuba ejected the USB drive and carefully pocketed his gift. "Thanks Seto."

"Come on Serenity."

Mokuba took the delicate girl firmly by the hand and led her up the stairs.

Amused, Kaiba watched her stumble ever so slightly to match his brother's shorter but much more energetic strides. _The poor, poor girl._

* * *

A/N: Reviewers greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

* * *

Seto Kaiba was very very angry.

At himself.

As a CEO, Kaiba had a million deadlines to meet. A million and one things to juggle: patent/copyright issues, constant reports from Market and Analysis, threats on his life, tedious administrative type work (the only way to get anything done was if he did it personally), bills, lawsuits against the company, taxes etc. But Kaiba is punctual, self-disciplined, and hardworking. He has always stayed ahead.

But it was inevitable, really, that one day, the oh-so-exciting job of read-this-2000-page-report-sign-here-analyze-the-market-make-your-decision-sign-here-lather-rinse-repeat would cease to interest the brilliant CEO. For twenty minutes, he told himself, I will ignore the incessant whining of Research and Development.

* * *

At 4:06, he began doing just that – puttering around, tinkering with this and that. His creativity yearned desperately for an outlet, so much in fact that Kaiba ended up creating a new computer language from scratch. It resembled nothing he had seen before, very malleable and versatile, but with no practical use he could think of, even if he could work out all the bugs. All in all, Kaiba was very pleased with himself. He had forgotten the joy of wasting time. Kaiba looked at the clock. 7:43.

He would pay dearly for those three hours of procrastination.

* * *

Shocking really, how much paperwork could build up in three hours and 37 minutes. Add that to Kaiba's already impacted schedule from having to shuffle things to accommodate Mokuba's birthday, and it seemed that Kaiba had dug himself a hole he would never climb out of.

For the rest of the week, Kaiba played an increasingly frustrating game of catch-up. He stayed up until the wee hours of the night to finish work that absolutely had to be done by the next day, never able to plan ahead. He found himself forced to ignore things of lesser priority until they became tomorrow's deadline. And then he would once again stay up until three in the morning with no end in sight. It all came to a head one Thursday night. Low priority, high priority – everything was "due" Friday at the 9:00 a.m. meeting.

Seto Kaiba was absolutely furious with himself.

* * *

By the thirtieth can of Red Bull, the anger left Kaiba. With blurry eyes, he stared zombie-like at the screen in front of him. An accomplished speed-reader, he had been reading the same paragraph for the past 15 minutes without digesting anything.

"Seto?"

Receiving no reply, Mokuba warily entered his brother's room, his hand firmly holding on to his own laptop. Kaiba fixed him with a baleful glare, which worried Mokuba. Normally, those who entered Kaiba's room without his brother's royal permission were subject to horrors unimaginable.

"You should get some rest, Big Brother."

Kaiba did not reply. He remained crouched over his laptop.

Mokuba sighed. He had expected as much. _With luck, Seto will just fall asleep when his brain shuts down. _

"Mokuba," Kaiba's grated, his voice hoarse with disapproval. "Have you finished with the paperwork I emailed you last week?"

"Sorry Seto, I…ummm…was kinda busy with homework and hrmm…studying for tests."

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room. Both brothers knew that Mokuba had followed in Kaiba's footsteps, speeding through school putting minimum effort into his homework and all his time into the Corporation.

Kaiba almost snapped right there and then. He could not remember the last time he needed to discipline his brother. While Mokuba exhibited far too much energy for his own good, the little kid had risen magnificently to the responsibility of being Vice President of a multinational corporation. Infinitely more intelligent and efficient than some of Kaiba Corp.'s other executives. and despite his size, Mokuba commanded serious respect from his subordinates.

Mokuba had never lied to Kaiba before. Between two brothers who grew up depending on each other for very survival, what was there to keep secret? Of course, Mokuba rarely remained truthful about the number of cookies he consumed, but who could expect otherwise?

Kaiba stood on the brink of insanity and decided he would deal with Mokuba another day. He glanced at the clock and stifled a moan. _4:20. Five more hours until…Doomsday._

_Wait a minute…_

"What are you doing here, Mokuba? It's way past your bedtime!"

Mokuba shrugged, ignoring Kaiba's withering glare. "I was trying to program something and lost track of the time. I was about to go to bed when I saw your light still on. You should really get some sleep, Big Brother. Don't you have a big meeting tomorrow?"

_Don't remind me. _

"Were you trying to program the new duel disk stuff?"

"Err…no…Actually, I ummm – "

"Let me see it."

Mokuba placed his laptop next to Kaiba's. After supplying all the necessary information, he brought up a screen that showed his work. He pointed out a few things to his brother, and Kaiba started typing.

_This is a very weird program Mokuba's trying to write. No wonder he can't figure it out. This…_

Kaiba had more experience with some of the rather obscure computer languages. He experimented with some but to no avail. Intrigued by the challenge, he gradually began to wake up. His eyes glittered, bright and alert now as he hunted for clues. In a sudden flash of inspiration, he turned over to his own laptop and began typing furiously.

"What are you doing Seto?"

"This is something I wrote a couple days ago. It might be compatible."

As Kaiba continued to type, a most curious idea appeared to him. "Mokuba, what you're trying to program has nothing to do with the new duel disk technology, does it?"

There was no reply.

"Is this why you didn't get your work done this week?"

"Yes."

Kaiba continued typing, his eyes trained on the screen.

"What is this?"

"The program to convert Serenity's DDR charts."

Kaiba turned away from the computer. He contained his anger and said, reasonably enough, "I don't mind you programming stuff for fun, Mokuba. Just don't let it get in the way of your work next time."

Mokuba faced his brother. A nagging voice in the back oh his head wondered if this late at night (or was it this early in the morning?) might not be the best time to break the news to Seto, but Mokuba suppressed it. After all, there was no such thing as a _good_ time to tell Seto this; might as well get it over with now. Mokuba took a deep breath. His eyes held a steely resolve that turned his amethyst orbs so dark they seemed black from Kaiba's position. "Seto…There's an international DDR competition in July. Serenity and I want to go. We _need_ to go. I think I'll need to spend a lot of time on these charts, and I just don't think I can handle a VP's workload with it as well. C-Could you give some of my work to the COO?"

In Kaiba's semi-delirium, Mokuba's words took on a new meaning. _The last person I would have thought to betray me like this… _

"You've got to learn some discipline, Mokuba. You can't just run off and drop all your responsibilities the moment you see something that's more fun."

Mokuba flared indignantly at Kaiba's implication.

"_Fun_ has nothing to do with it, Big Brother. Maybe you don't think our DDR charts are important, and okay, admittedly, we're probably not going to make any money off of it…" Mokuba trailed off. _Wait…What was my point again? Oh yeah… _

Lack of sleep continued to blur both brothers' thinking processes.

"But," Mokuba continued, "Not everything has to be about the profit margins, Big Brother. I know you put your whole life into Kaiba Corp….for me. But you never asked me what I wanted to do. I like working with computers, but managing people, firing people, and all that other administrative stuff that comes so easily to you just doesn't work for me. I want to be a part of Kaiba Corp., Big Brother. I really do. I…like working with you. But I don't want Kaiba Corp. to consume my life."

Mokuba looked his brother in the eye. "You hated Gozaburo," he whispered. "Why are you turning into him now?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mokuba regretted them. He had never meant to hurt his brother. The forbidden name twisted evilly, lingering in the room before it faded into silence.

The betrayal was complete.

"Get out." Kaiba hissed. "Get out of my room."

Mokuba could only stare at his brother, the apology lodged firmly in his throat, stubbornly refusing to come out. He retrieved his laptop and left the room without a backwards glance.

* * *

The servants in Kaiba's mansion had never seen anything like it before. The two brothers barricaded themselves in their respective rooms. When they passed each other in the hallways at odd hours in the night to get something from the kitchen, they neither spoke nor looked at each other. Aside from slamming their doors shut with slightly more force than necessary, they gave no indication that they had noticed the other person.

The brothers had had their disagreements before, inevitable between two major players in a multinational corporation. Also, a few spats about Mokuba's curfew, Mokuba's friends, the amount of sugar Mokuba could consume before it was legally poisonous, etc. But everyone knew that Mokuba hero-worshipped his older brother. And Kaiba doted on his baby brother. Doted as well as a cold and ruthless dragon could dote, anyways.

It was bewildering. Whereas Mokuba's merry-making had once balanced the frigid atmosphere around Kaiba, now only a brooding silence sulked.

* * *

The maid knocked timidly on Kaiba's door.

"Come in," the CEO snapped.

She reluctantly entered his sanctuary. "Mr. Kaiba?"

At 5:30 in the morning, while most of the world still slumbered peacefully in their beds, the aforementioned CEO was typing furiously on his laptop. He gestured impatiently for the maid to continue.

She swallowed. "IthinkMokuba-saniskindofsick." The words came out in a tremulous breath.

The maid paled as anger twisted Kaiba's handsome features. Recently, his notorious temper had become even more volatile if that was possible. For a split second, he stayed in his seat and could only stare, horrified, at what she had said. Then Kaiba leapt up and swept out of the room. "Take me to him," he commanded.

The maid hastily obeyed.

"Where is the doctor?" Kaiba spat out as he half-jogged down the stairs in his hurry to get to Mokuba. _Dammit. Mokuba was right. We need a smaller house. _

The maid drew a ragged breath, trying to simultaneously speak and keep up with Kaiba's long strides. "Dr. Takeda has already been contacted. He's on his way."

Dr. Takeda, the family doctor, had taken care of both Kaiba brothers since Gozaburo's death. Kaiba trusted no one but he had respect for the kind old doctor who had been there for every one of Mokuba's sprains, fractures, concussions, and other side effects of racing around the house at sonic speed.

* * *

Mokuba lay shivering in his sheets, damp with sweat. Kaiba knelt down beside his brother's bed.

"Seto…Seto…"

Kaiba's eyes widened, but it was only fever-talk. Mokuba remained unconscious, and Kaiba tightened his grip on Mokuba's hand. With each one of Mokuba's convulsions, a little more blood drained from Kaiba's face.

Kaiba bowed his head in agony.

* * *

Kaiba watched numbly as Dr. Takeda carefully assessed Mokuba's condition.

"Mokuba will be fine." Dr. Takeda announced finally. He flashed a reassuring smile at Kaiba. The CEO, sitting rigidly in his chair with chestnut hair falling into his eyes, looked like the boy he really was. The boy he would have been had fate not played so cruelly with his life. A boy just out of high school, not some heartless CEO of a multi-million corporation.

At Dr. Takeda's words, a wave of relief washed over Kaiba. Suddenly, his muscles felt exhausted. He couldn't even bring himself to smile despite the glorious news. Kaiba nodded.

"It's just a fever," Dr. Takeda continued. "We'll have to let it run its course. I already gave the servants medicine and instructions how to prepare it." He paused and looked sideways at Kaiba, unsure how to continue.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Dr. Takeda had always been very frank.

Dr. Takeda grimaced. "I noticed that Mokuba's very tired and possibly, sleep-deprived. One of the maids told me she actually had to pry his laptop out of his hands when she found him. I mention this only because this kind of exhaustion is unusual in an eleven year old." He chuckled but the laughter sounded forced. "Of course not many eleven year olds are the VP of Kaiba Corp….but I would think you value your brother's health more than your company."

Dr. Takeda looked straight into Kaiba's eyes. "Cut down Mokuba's workload. You are endangering his life."

The words rendered Seto Kaiba speechless. _Nobody orders __**me**__ around_. Normally, Kaiba would have fired Dr. Takeda on the spot, but the guilt plaguing him the entire morning, flared with new vengeance at the doctor's diagnosis.

_You hated Gozaburo. Why are you turning into him now?_

The words continued to play over and over in Kaiba's mind.

Once out of the dangerous waters, Dr. Takeda spoke with a little more confidence. "Besides that, it's just the usual. Make sure Mokuba drinks lots of fluids. And try to keep him in bed. He needs his rest." Dr. Takeda grinned ruefully, well aware of Mokuba's energy.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and allowed the faintest of smiles to grace his lips. He could imagine few tasks easier than keeping Mokuba in bed all day. Like nailing water to a tree for example.

Dr. Takeda bid him farewell and left the room rather quickly. For a while, Kaiba stood beside Mokuba, savoring the quiet, the solitude. His finger lightly caressed Mokuba's cheek but he didn't know what to say. In the end, Kaiba noticed one of Mokuba's funky Post-It pads on the floor and picked it up. He scribbled a short note on it and placed it besides Mokuba's pillow.

Seto Kaiba left for work, carefully holding both his own and Mokuba's laptops.

* * *

The harsh jangling of the telephone jarred Kaiba's train of thoughts. He frowned and picked up the receiver.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY **LAPTOP?!?!**"

Kaiba blinked. "Did you read the note I left you?"

"YES, I READ THE DAMN NOTE…BUT **WHY??? **I CAN EASILY TYPE ON MY LAPTOP AND STAY IN BED AT THE SAME TIME. THE TWO ACTIONS ARE NOT **MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!**"

Kaiba winced as Mokuba bellowed the last two words.

"Chill out, kiddo. We can talk about this when I come home today." Kaiba continued talking over Mokuba's outraged sputters. "I'm coming home for lunch today. Would you like me to bring you anything?"

A profound silence stretched on as Mokuba considered the compromise. "I want pizza," he decided finally.

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose and bit back a moan. "Didn't we just have that junk a week ago?"

"Please?"

"Do I have to eat it as well?"

"Of course."

_Well it was worth a try._

"Pepperoni?"

"Oh…Yeah." Kaiba frowned at the surprise in Mokuba's voice. _Is it really so unbelievable that I'd remember my own brother's favorite topping?_

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling loads better."

Kaiba snorted. "You're not getting out of bed until Dr. Takeda's say-so, no matter how much better you're doing."

Mokuba swore, and Kaiba pretended he didn't hear the colorful expletives. _Where does my brother learn this kind of language?_ "I feel like crap actually," Mokuba admitted, "but my fever's gone down."

"Glad to hear it."

"Come home soon, Seto."

"Ok."

_Click._

* * *

Kaiba walked into Mokuba's room, carrying the pizza box, paper plates, and napkins. The oily smell of the fast food made him nauseous and he quickly put down the offending item. Mokuba laid sprawled on the bed, glaring at a bowl of herbal soup with a look of pure hatred.

Mokuba turned expectantly to Kaiba.

"Hey Big Brother."

Kaiba noted that Mokuba's smile did not quite reach his eyes.

"Still sulking?" He referred to his _Heuer_ watch. "Three hours and twenty minutes. Pretty impressive."

Mokuba ignored the barb. "Serenity's coming over this afternoon. I need _my_ laptop."

Kaiba caught the ever so slight emphasis Mokuba put on the word "my."

"You better call her then and tell her that you are sick."

"S-Seto! We…we…_can't!_ We have it all planned out…We…you CAN'T! I…Seto…Don't do this." Kaiba rolled his eyes and opened the pizza box, pulling off a slice for Mokuba and gingerly dropping it onto the paper plate. Mokuba drew a deep breath, seeming to suddenly realize that his brother would probably pay closer attention if his argument was backed with coherent sentences.

"Seto…Serenity and I we scheduled these three hour work sessions. We promised each other we'd make it to these sessions even if it's the last thing we do!"

Kaiba snorted in disbelief. _Very dramatic._

Mokuba glared back. "We're both so busy, Seto. Especially Serenity. She has all that homework, a scholarship to think about, her part-time job, and just EVERYTHING! We can't miss today. We just can't." He looked pleadingly at Kaiba. "The competition is in July," Mokuba added in frustration.

Kaiba looked at his baby brother, hunched over a slice of pizza, shoulders bowed as if the weight of the world was upon them. _I have worked tirelessly, foregoing food…sleep…. I have fought tooth and nail for Kaiba Corp. I have spent my entire life locked in a room with a computer for company. For what? _

"What time?"

Mokuba looked up. "Wha-?"

"What time is Serenity coming?"

"4:30."

"So basically she has the DDR charts written out, and the two of you are just going to program it into the computer?"

Mokuba nodded uncertainly. "That's about it."

"Call her." Mokuba's face fell. "Call her, tell her you're sick, and that I'll program the DDR charts."

Mokuba was stunned. "Wow…my fever must be worse than I thought. It's addled my brains. I…"

Kaiba muttered, "If you're going to blame something, I'd place my bet on the junk we're eating." He reached for his cell phone and dialed his secretary's number.

"Cancel anything I have between 4:30 and 7:30."

Flipping shut the cell phone, Kaiba remarked to Mokuba, "She better not be late."

Kaiba continued eating, biting, chewing, and swallowing emotionlessly…doing his best not to taste the rancid slime slithering down his throat. And Mokuba could only stare. At the sacrifice his brother had made.

It occurred to Mokuba then that he should thank his brother. That he should hug Kaiba for all he was worth. But the words of gratitude would not come. There stood a barrier now. Of anger. Of resentment that Kaiba had not stayed by him, even though Mokuba was mature enough to know that the CEO of Kaiba Corp. does not take an entire day off for something as trivial as an illness. Of hurt. Of betrayal.

Kaiba finished eating. He neatly wiped his mouth and cleansed his hand with a napkin. Kaiba put one finger under Mokuba's chin and lifted Mokuba's face. He smiled that special smile he reserved for Mokuba.

Mokuba hated himself for not being able to return the smile.

Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair. "Get well soon, ok kiddo? I'll be back a little before 4:30."

Mokuba nodded, and Kaiba left for work again.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait everybody. I promise to update more regularly from now on! Thank you to everybody who left reviews; they all mean so much to me. And I've replied already to the ones that had reply links.

Sakura Takanouchi: To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either of what ages to give the characters. My knowledge of the Yu-gi-oh-verse is sketchy at best, based on random fanfics I've read. However, I do plan on bringing out the more mature side of Mokuba later on. Thank you for your review; I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh does not belong to me.

* * *

Serenity shyly followed the butler as he led her through the long corridors of the mansion. The butler, an epitome of propriety, knocked importantly on the door to Mokuba's room.

"Come in."

Serenity smiled at the sound of her best friend's voice. The butler opened the door for her, and she stepped into the room.

Mokuba was sitting up on a King sized bed covered with fluffy white covers and fluffy white pillows. He bounced happily seeing Serenity and waved.

Kaiba, who had been sitting on the side of Mokuba's bed, turned around to look at Serenity.

"Hello Mr. Kaiba."

Once again, he did not return her greeting, merely nodding curtly to acknowledge he had heard. His eyes flickered over to the clock and he stood up. "We'll go to my study upstairs."

"M-Mr. Kaiba?"

"...Yes?"

"I-I made some soup for Mokuba. Could I let him try it?" Serenity gestured awkwardly to her thermos.

Kaiba shrugged and moved away from the bed, gracefully sitting on a nearby chair.

Serenity made her way across the room and perched on the side of Mokuba's bed where Kaiba had just been.

"I hope it's not the icky kind of herbal soup?" Mokuba asked anxiously.

Serenity giggled. "No! Of course not! Why would I waste my time making something that's icky tasting?"

Mokuba grinned in relief.

"This is made with my family's secret recipe. My mom made it all the time for me whenever I got sick. It always helped me get better."

Serenity carefully poured the soup into a bowl. She dipped her spoon into the warm broth and lifting it up, blew tenderly on the spoonful of soup before feeding it to Mokuba.

Mokuba opened his mouth obediently and swallowed.

"Mmmm...this is really good."

Serenity rewarded Mokuba's comment with a rare impish grin and continued to spoon-feed him the soup.

A little embarrassed at all the attention, Mokuba said, "It's alright Serenity. I can do it myself. It's enough that you went to all the trouble of making it."

Serenity started to protest but then remembered that Kaiba was waiting. She turned to him, but he answered her question before she could ask it.

"I don't mind waiting."

Serenity, who had been expecting a grunt or Kaiba's customary monologue reply, blinked, surprised that he had deigned her worthy of an actual sentence-long reply. But his eyes remained as cold and as impassive as ever. Shyly, she nodded.

* * *

Mokuba yawned, and Serenity placed the empty bowl on his nightstand. She lovingly tucked him in despite his sleepy protests. "Get well soon," she whispered, ruffling his hair. The small child nodded contently, snuggled deeper into his blanket, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Serenity stood and gave Kaiba a timid smile.

Wordlessly, Kaiba got up and swept out of the room. Serenity followed him and his gravity-defying trench coat down the long, elegant corridors of the mansion. They entered Kaiba's study, a room large enough to fit the apartment Serenity shared with Joey in one corner.

It was dimly lit, the only light source the glowing blue screen of a laptop on a polished mahogany desk. Kaiba brought an extra swivel chair to the desk, sat down in his own and motioned for Serenity to sit in the other.

Awkwardly, Serenity squeezed past Kaiba to get to her seat. Normally, her slender frame had no such problems with these situations, but in her nervousness, bumping into Kaiba was inevitable. He tensed visibly at the contact, and she muttered her apology, hardly able to look at him with her mortified eyes. Serenity was very very thankful for the darkness then. Gloomy and foreboding as it was, it effectively covered her vivid blush.

They were silent as Kaiba entered all the complicated looking passwords to log-in to his laptop, the only sound in the room the gentle clacking of the keys. Once logged in, he turned and looked expectantly at Serenity.

Surprised at his sudden attention, the poor girl could only stare dumbly at the CEO until she realized what he needed. She hurriedly dug through her backpack until she found her folder of DDR charts. Fumbling with her backpack, fingers becoming increasingly slippery as she thought of the waiting Kaiba, Serenity managed to extract the DDR chart she and Mokuba were currently working on.

_I wish she would wipe that charming blush off her face. It's entirely too distracting._

Seto Kaiba, man of many talents, could of course see in the dark...or near darkness of his personal study.

He irritably forced that irrelevant observation out of his mind and concentrated on the piece of paper in front of him. It had many color-coded arrows, little numbers, music notes, and writing scrawled in the margins. Half of the writing was in an untidy scribble that Kaiba recognized as Mokuba's; the other half he presumed was Serenity's. Kaiba flicked on a lamp, but the light it shed on the DDR chart did nothing to illuminate its meaning.

A silence settled on the two as neither Kaiba nor Serenity said anything. Kaiba waited calmly. _Surely the girl does not expect me to program this without any explanation. I can't even read this; how am I supposed to know what I am programming?_

Serenity's hands, folded neatly in her lap, ached to play with something. Twirl a pen, doodle on a notepad. _Why wasn't Kaiba doing anything?_ He just sat there. He seemed...to be waiting for something.

Serenity chanced a look up and to her utter surprise (once again), the CEO was staring right at her.

"Ummm...? Are you going to be programming these charts? Not to hurry you or anything..."

Kaiba blinked. He was starting to have a bad feeling about this. "In order for me to program the DDR chart, I need to be able to understand or read the DDR chart," he told Serenity in a tone that stated quite clearly he was having doubts about her intelligence level.

"Y-You don't know how to read a DDR chart?" Serenity asked, wide-eyed.

"Of course I know how to read a DDR chart," Kaiba replied, bitingly sarcastic. "I just thought I'd sit here and twiddle my thumbs because I obviously have nothing better to do."

Serenity was too stunned (and a little bit frightened) by this revelation to be hurt much by Kaiba's caustic sarcasm. Then hesitantly, "Would you like me to teach you?"

Kaiba considered strangling the girl. "That might speed things up," he managed to bite out.

He immediately regretted his impatience. The girl looked desperately frightened. Her eyes were the cliché doe-in-the-headlights look, but there was nothing funny about it. Usually Kaiba enjoyed inspiring fear in the lowly beings that populated the earth, but he received no pleasure in watching _her_ tremble. A part of him even felt uncomfortable that she seemed unnerved in his presence.

_How strange..._

Serenity procured a piece of blank paper. "Have you ever played a musical instrument or learned to read music?"

Kaiba shook his head no.

"The first thing to know about music is that it's just like math. Songs are composed of measures, and in each measure there is a certain number of beats, which is designated by the time signature. Rhythm is about how you divide these beats or combine these beats with other beats. The top number in the time signature shows how many beats in a measure, and the bottom number shows you what kind of note gets the beat in this measure. If the bottom number is a "4," then quarter notes get the beat. There are two eighth notes in a quarter note and two sixteenths in an eighth note."

"Or four sixteenth notes in a quarter note. And are there also thirty-second notes, sixty-fourth notes, so on?" With his impressive memory, Kaiba easily grasped the new jargon being tossed his way.

"Yes! Exactly! But you must remember that the more you divide the beat, the smaller each note will be, and the faster it will have to be executed. We rarely have thirty-second notes in DDR because people simply can't move their legs that fast...unless it's a slow song of course." Serenity was a little surprised at how quickly Kaiba learned but then she beamed, happiness replacing the terror in her eyes. As her cinnamon brown eyes took in Kaiba's face, they practically sparkled with warmth.

The compliment sounded strange to Kaiba's ears, alien almost. Or perhaps it was the sincerity that Kaiba had never known. His insides did a little flip-flop, and he couldn't understand why. And there was nothing that annoyed Kaiba so much as not being able to understand why.

"Two quarter notes make up a half note, and two half notes make up a whole note. Sometimes, rarely, whole notes can also be used to represent an entire measure, regardless of the top number. A dot next to the note means that you add half of its value to it. So a half note is worth two beats, and a dotted half note is two plus one or three beats. A dotted quarter note is worth one plus half or one and a half beats."

As Serenity continued to explain, Kaiba slowly began to appreciate music more. He had always held it in contempt, despising how musicians liked to walk along a scenic beach or take a stroll in a moonlit garden, suddenly crow, "I have found inspiration!" and then perform a masterpiece. Kaiba lived by Einstein's motto (Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration), and all that feel-the-emotion sounded too much like hocus-pocus for him. But listening to Serenity, Kaiba learned that music could be understood through math. Not just the rhythms but even the notes themselves, the harmony and the resolution, the entire composition resembled a brilliantly written algorithm.

"Are you sure you've never played an instrument before?" asked Serenity. "You're catching on incredibly fast."

Unbidden, childhood memories surfaced in Kaiba's mind. Naturally, he had done his best to repress all memories formed before Gozaburo's death, but Serenity's gentle voice somehow unlocked doors that had best been kept locked deep within.

As a boy, Kaiba had entertained the idea of being a violinist. It was a passing fancy, nothing really. Other boys wanted the new GI Joe for Christmas; Kaiba wanted to touch the gleaming wood of a violin.

Gozaburo crushed such idle fantasies of course. As he had crushed all other dreams so that Kaiba would do nothing but work work work. A small loss compared to everything else, but having never given himself the time to properly mourn, it remained raw inside Kaiba's memory.

"No," replied Kaiba, his voice a little too sharp for Serenity's innocent question. "I've never played."

Serenity looked at Kaiba in concern. "You must be tired. That was a lot of information to digest in such a short amount of time."

Kaiba scowled. He was a little paranoid about pity...might have something to do with his over-inflated ego. In any case...

_I am Japan's most feared businessman. I do not need the pity of a high school teenager, who probably couldn't hack into a level 1 security system if her pretty little life depended on it. _

But just before Kaiba could acidly inform Serenity of how misplaced her concern (pity) was and reduce her to tears, Serenity had sweetly continued on.

"Anyways, I think that'll be good enough for you to get through this DDR chart. We should be starting soon...we're running out of time."

Kaiba's eyes flickered to the clock, assessing for himself the truth in Serenity's words. That plus her smile stayed Kaiba's hand, and he decided one measly comment (possibly insult) wasn't worth a confrontation.

Kaiba set to work.

As if by magic, the DDR chart opened its secrets to him now. Kaiba read the small arrows and music notes as easily as if he had been reading DDR charts his entire life.

"So why do you and Mokuba have to do this together? I mean couldn't you just write the chart and then send it to Mokuba to program? It would be easier to schedule."

Serenity looked at Kaiba, confused. "But Mokuba and I...we write the charts together."

Kaiba frowned. For some reason, he had always assumed that Serenity wrote the charts and Mokuba programmed them. Thinking back, he realized Mokuba had never said or implied such a thing.

"What about today then?"

"Oh, well sometimes, I take the charts home with me to proof them and then I come back here so Mokuba and I can program them together."

"You know how to program?"

"A bit. Not as much as Mokuba. But it's important that both of us are here. Even if we've written the chart and proofed the chart until it's perfect, when we put the chart into the computer, it might turn out...different from what we expected. So then we have to make changes. It's good to have somebody to bounce ideas off of."

Kaiba understood the value of having someone to "bounce ideas off of." Most of his ideas for Kaiba Corp. could have never taken off if he had not had Mokuba with him to offer fresh perspectives when confronted with obstacles. Kaiba considered Serenity's words and said slowly, "I won't be able to help you much in that area tonight."

Serenity smiled, a hint of a challenge in her voice. "Why not? Finding the problem is usually the hardest part, and you certainly don't need a PhD in music to know when something sounds good or when something sounds bad. It's just that since I wrote it, it makes perfect sense to me, but to other people, it might sound odd. Knowing how to fix it does require a bit more skill, but as long as we've identified the problem, Mokuba and I can always go back and fix it later."

* * *

Watching Serenity return all her papers to her backpack, Kaiba realized that working with her had not been torture after all. She worked quietly and did not feel the compulsion (that afflicted so many) to fill silence with useless chatter. She listened attentively to Kaiba's questions, suggestions, and comments, replying honestly. Thoughtfully. She was hardworking, had turned the process of revision into an art itself. She composed draft after draft before she considered the chart satisfactory. She was not afraid to criticize her own work and equally unafraid of doing the tedious calculations that were sometimes involved when solving messy problems.

* * *

Serenity finished filing away the last of her papers. Hesitantly, she withdrew from her backpack a small package. Serenity pressed the little bag into Kaiba's hand.

"I...I...baked some cookies for you," she stuttered.

Kaiba meant to say, "I have enough stalkers, following me around and showering me with girly gifts without you adding cookies to the list."

What came out instead was "...Thank you."

Immensely relieved that he had accepted and not thrown the bag of cookies in her face, Serenity tried to explain, "I wanted to thank you for what you did for me and Mokuba today. I...know it can't be easy to take so much time off work." She added softly, "This competition means so much to us."

For the first time in his life, Kaiba was unsure what to say.

"Would you...like to go see Mokuba before you leave?"

Serenity brightened and nodded enthusiastically. "Just don't share too many of the cookies with him," she giggled, "Who knows what he might get himself into with all that sugar."

Kaiba had no intention of sharing any of the cookies with Mokuba. He was rumored to be cruel and sadistic. Perhaps the rumors were true, Kaiba certainly reveled in them, but he was in no way masochistic enough to offer Mokuba sugar while trying to keep the little demon in bed.

They found Mokuba sprawled on top of the bed in such a contorted shape that Kaiba wondered if the raven-haired child was actually receiving the benefit of resting in bed. Serenity and Kaiba took turns telling him about the progress they made, and Kaiba saw his brother smile the first true smile in many weeks. Serenity hugged Mokuba tightly, and Kaiba forced himself to banish an entirely irrational twinge of jealousy. She bid both Kaiba brothers a good night and left.

* * *

"Seto?"

"Hmmm?"

"Will you sleep with me tonight?"

The request took Kaiba by surprise. Mokuba had not asked to sleep with him, since he was seven, running to his brother's bed away from the Red Eyes Black Dragon in the dark. Kaiba had not planned on sleeping tonight; there were probably stacks of paperwork waiting for him in his office.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

And just like that, it was as if the two brothers had never fought.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Constructive criticism continues to be welcomed and honored, so spill!

Kade27: Thank you. Apologies for the late update. Hope you're still interested in reading.

Sakura Takanouchi: I don't have a clear idea of where this story is going yet, so no, there's no specific reason for the rating. The truth was that I think I was too lazy to plan ahead, so I just picked the highest rating there was. I know -- that sounds so silly, huh? Well, thanks for bearing with me. I hope you continue to enjoy this story!


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